20 November 2009 - Future contracts for Eskom's coal fired Kusile power station have been put on hold, says the electricity parastatal.

"Eskom has been proceeding with all placed contracts at Kusile - however the unplaced contracts will remain so," spokesman Andrew Etzinger told Sapa.

Contracts would be put on hold for around two months until the parastatal had received clarity on its proposal for tariff increases from the National Energy Regulator. "Unless we have revenue certainty we can't place the contracts," said Etzinger.

Construction at Kusile had not come to a halt as the work underway stemmed from contracts already placed. "It is complete speculation to say whether or not the delays at Kusile will continue beyond the outcome of the tariff increase application to Nersa," Etzinger said.

Kusile power station, situated at Emalahleni in Mpumalanga, had been expected to satisfy 10 per cent of the country's electricity demand.

The power station would reportedly cost around R120bn ($16bn) to complete. Eskom has stated previously that the first unit of Kusile was expected to be completed by 2013 and would deliver 4800 MW.